So I’ve been training for Mt Whitney, got the permits for the dates I wanted, read up, studied the trail, dreamt of it a few times and.... my climbing partner bailed on me.
So here I am, looking for someone who would like to join me on my summit attempt - and what better place to look for someone than here.
First off, if you are interested, please see the following information to see if we match logistically in terms of dates, expectations etc.
1. My permit entry date is 6/1, exit is 6/3 (Wed-Fri).
2. As you can see I do not want to do a 22-mile Whit-a-thon. Though I have planned for two nights on the mountain, I am open to only doing one night. Ideally I would like to hit the trail at 9am and camp at trail camp on day one and essentially call it a day. Hopefully summit the following day (with weather and altitude sickness at bay) and either go all the way back to Whitney Portal after packing up our gear at TC or camp below at Outpost, enjoying the scenery...
3.I want to arrive at Lone Pine on Monday to start acclimatizing. I could be flexible on this and either arrive very early on Tuesday or I could come on Monday and you could meet me whenever you’d like (though I’d hope you’d also want to acclimatize a bit.)
If all that sounds well then read on….
A little about me (this is starting to feel like online dating now.) I’m a 27 year-old male - will be 28 by the permit entry date. I am a first-time Whitney climber. My experience is fairly limited. I have done some trekking in the Karakoram (along the Indo-Pak border during my time working with an earthquake relief non-profit), some moderate guided trekking in Ladakh, India (little Tibet) and have done the 4-day Inca Trail. My snow climbing is extremely limited; I understand that there will be snow on trail camp and above and possibly even below. I do not have crampons but I plan on renting them at Elevation in Lone Pine (
http://www.sierraelevation.com/).
Who I’m looking for…
Anyone who is sensible, understands their limits and that we are a group. Someone who has been training for Whitney, has read up on it (I would assume most of you have if you are on the boards) and preferably someone who has more experience than me, but if we sound like we are at the same level or so, that absolutely works as well. If you are very experienced I also ask that you understand that I will probably not be up to your skill level.
Another small note, I just opened my 3-season tent this past weekend after a couple years and apparently some rodent made a mini-mansion there and left me with the tattered remains. So if you have a 3-4 season tent, that would be awesome. That being said, I’m also ready to purchase one and would love some suggestions from you all.
I also do not trust my cooking stove after my last backing trip, so if you have to as well it would be great. If not, I am on the market for a jetboil….
So that’s pretty much it…. Oh yeah, I live in Los Angeles and if all works out I would love to do a conditioning hike or two in May before we go and get acquainted with one another.
If you’re interested in joining me send me an e-mail, message me here or respond to the post. My e-mail is tna2102@caa.columbia.edu. ALSO, please tell me about yourself, age, climbing experience if any, what you think about the dates/acclimatization time, if you have a tent or stove, etc and we can take it from there. Feel free to ask any questions as well.
Cheers,
Talal
